


Rules of Parenting

by fantasyworld



Category: Persona 3, Persona Series
Genre: Family, Future Fic, Gen, OC is a toddler, Shinji is playing house, What if Scenario
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-10
Updated: 2013-12-10
Packaged: 2018-01-04 07:06:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1078011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fantasyworld/pseuds/fantasyworld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No matter how old you are, or how badass you think you are, when a toddler comes up to you with a ringing toy phone, you answer it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rules of Parenting

 

_1\. Answer the toy phone._

 

A white-haired three-year-old toddled through the room, carrying the little plastic cell phone that her father had bought her the last time he’d been home. Three months prior. That was a fact that still pissed Shinjiro the fuck off every time he thought about it. Playing surrogate father to his best friend’s kid was not how he’d imagined his life going upon waking from a coma. Of course, he’d never admit that he was wrapped around that little girl’s finger. Even still, she held up the stupid pink piece of plastic with a grin on her face.

“It’s Daddy!” she exclaimed excitedly, pushing the toy phone as high as she could for Shinjiro to answer. With a heavy sigh and a brief glance to ensure that nobody could see him, even though he was the only one in the apartment with her, Shinjiro lifted the little girl in his arms and took the toy phone.

“Aki, hurry up and get your stupid ass back here. Midori’s killing me with this bullshit,” he said into the phone, earning a high-pitched giggle from the child in his arms.

 

 

_2\. “Eat” the Play-Doh cookies_

 

Shinjiro stared down at the plate Midori had shoved in his face, the overwhelming smell of flour and salt making him feel like his olfactory sense had just been jumped in a dark alley. The little girl smiled brightly as she held up the plate filled with disk-shaped pieces of child-safe modeling clay.

“What’s this?” he asked, hoping and praying that he wouldn’t be subjected to what he thought he was.

“Cookies!” Midori answered happily. “Just like Uncle Shinji makes!” The brunette male sighed heavily, suddenly regretting having made the treat for Midori a few days prior. The little girl pushed the plate closer and Shinjiro took one of the ‘cookies’ to appease her. After pretending to take a bite and pushing a crescent shape into the disk with his thumb, Shinjiro gave her a smile and told her she was an excellent cook.

 

 

_3\. Slurp the invisible soup_

 

“I’ll make you better!” Midori insisted as she pushed the empty plastic bowl into Shinjiro’s hands. “Soup makes everything better!” Shinjiro looked down at the bowl, feeling a sinus headache pounding painfully behind his eyes. Even through his discomfort, he couldn’t bring himself to allow the light in those pretty crimson eyes to fade. He picked up the spoon and slurped loudly, pretending for Midori’s sake that her invisible soup was making him feel better, rather than the medication he’d taken nearly a half-hour earlier.

 

 

_4\. Pretend that she’s not causing grievous bodily harm as she “brushes” your hair._

 

Shinjiro gripped his own knee painfully as the comb caught in his hair for what felt like the thousandth time since Midori had taken it upon herself to brush it. He dismissed every ‘oopsie’ with a ‘don’t worry’ and allowed her to continue with this torment. He sat still on the living room floor with the television set to the cooking network, while Midori was seated on the chair behind him with the comb in her hands.

“You should make that,” the little girl suggested, pointing to the meal being prepared on the television.

“You don’t like spicy food, Midori,” he answered easily, even as she accidentally ripped out another handful of hair with her next brush.

“Make it not spicy.” _Rip_.

Shinjiro seriously considered cutting his hair.

 

 

_5\. Always be serious when asked what you’d like for dinner, and never say something silly like rabbit soup. Because she will go get her stuffed one off the bed, put it in your best pot, and fill said pot with water. Then place it on your desk._

 

Shinjiro had once made the mistake of not taking Midori seriously when she’d asked what he wanted for dinner. He quickly learned to never make that mistake again. To answer her question, he’d simply stated that he wanted rabbit stew. Midori had never been allowed to cook, so he didn’t think anything of it. She was only four at the time.

He regretted his words when he found his stockpot filled with water and the stuffed rabbit Akihiko had gotten her for her birthday placed upon the desk in his room when he’d returned from work. The babysitter had chuckled, but said nothing of Midori’s antics. Shinjiro made it a point to let Midori watch him in the kitchen from then on in an attempt to deter her from trying to cook her bunny again.

 

 

_6.Greet her make believe friends and ask how their day was._

 

“Her name is Rei,” Midori introduce brightly, gesturing to the empty chair beside her. Shinjiro frowned ever so slightly, hoping the emergence of an imaginary friend didn’t mean Midori felt lonely. He’d tried to be around her as much as possible between work. Even still, he put on a reserved smile for Midori’s sake and nodded to the empty chair.

“Welcome, Rei,” he greeted carefully. “How are you doing?”

 

 

_7\. Always kiss the teddy bear goodnight. It has feelings too._

 

Shinjiro tucked the exhausted toddler into bed and kissed her forehead as she snuggled into her pillow. He was about to turn away and retire to his own room, when he heard Midori speak up.

“What about Usa-chan?” she asked tiredly, but still managing to lift her stuffed bunny in the air. Shinjiro sighed with a chuckle on his lips. He turned around, made a show of kissing the stuffed bunny on the nose and re-tucked Midori into her bed as she settled in for the night.

 

 

_8\. Always pretend to die when she shoots you._

 

Midori held up her water gun and fired with a high-pitched squeal. The stream of water landed a good meter away from Shinjiro, but he still clutched a hand to his chest and fell to his knees. He coughed loudly, though careful not to bring on a fit, as he allowed himself to fall fully to the ground. After a moment of stillness, Midori ran to his side and shook his shoulder lightly.

“Uncle Shinji, get up!” she ordered. Shinjiro refused to move, continuing to play dead for the little girl. She shook him again and Shinjiro frowned when he heard a sniffle. “Wake up…” He suddenly sat up and enveloped her in his embrace, tickling her all the while.

“Don’t cry, Midori,” he said softly as he dried her eyes with his thumb.

 

 

_9\. Yes, her drawing does look like a butterfly, not a bunch of jumbled up lines._

 

Midori’s tongue peeked through her lips in concentration as her crayons scrawled across the page in front of her. Shinjiro walked by with an upraised eyebrow. The picture she was drawing looked like nothing short of a piece out of a modern impressionist art museum. Midori looked up with a grin on her lips and moved her hands to provide him a better view of her artwork.

“Do you like my flutterby?” she asked innocently. Shinji looked at the paper again, wondering how in the hell the scribbling lines of orange and blue and purple could possibly translate into a butterfly. Even still, he smiled and ruffled her hair.

“It looks great, Midori.”

 

 

_10\. Her pounding on the piano is the best thing you have ever heard._

 

Akihiko had sent Midori a tiny toy music keyboard for her fourth birthday. Shinjiro was fairly certain he was going shoot Aki the next time he saw him. For a great number of reasons. Even so, he listened to the little concert the girl was putting on for him with a smile that continued to try and turn itself into a grimace. He gripped the armrests of his chair tightly, and prayed the pounding on the keyboard would end soon. The instant Midori had finished her ‘song’, she looked up at him with wide, expectant eyes.

“Is that all?” he asked. “Come on. Encore, encore!”

**Author's Note:**

> I've been doing a bit of writing with a new character for the Persona fandom. Her name is Midori, and she would be the child of Akihiko and FeMC. I've kind of rationalized this in that MC's only reference as his SOUL being the Great Seal, but nothing being stated about his body. And because Elizabeth is trying to bring him back as of P4A, I feel as if that must mean his body is still around, potentially in a comatose state. And since FeMC shares the same fate as MC, I figured it would work. FeMC would, while comatose and in the hospital, carry Midori to term and the baby would be delivered via C-Section.
> 
> After that, Aki would still be going on his training expedition (to keep with P4A canon), leaving Shinjiro (who survived, Goddammit) to take care of the little girl in his absence.


End file.
